Blair's Second Chance
by Shay Remlez
Summary: Blair Loren was one of the youngest professors who went on a trip to Johto… his biggest regret was never being able to be a trainer. At 23 years old he gives up his life to save a Pokémon. Little did he know that was the event that changed his life. Now waking up thirteen years in the past he resolves to be the strongest trainer ever and his starter is... Magikarp!
1. Blair's Second Chance Swims in

The man's name... is Blair. Blair Loren. You see the thing is right now he's dying, however something is alive. Something he saved. Something amazing. Blair is a man 23 years of age. Before there was nothing incredibly special about him, other than perhaps being an orphan and having a stint with long hair until he was forced to cut it recently. Well... more like it was cut and shaved as part of the torture. I'll spare you the details. He regretted his entire life before, he never tried, he never made any close friends. He never lived. He left the orphanage at ten and lived the streets working part time jobs. That was until he saved up enough to go trainer's school. He managed to become one of the youngest adjunct professors in the region but... he never battled. He just studied. He missed his partner and couldn't get another. Yes I am talking about his first partner Pokémon. He tried to buy a pokeball but you can't without a trainer's license. No matter how he tried... he just couldn't become a trainer. He has always loved them but never had one of his own. He used to dream of being a champion like every other kid in the orphanage. He studied like every other kid in the orphanage. He however was the only kid who never got a partner. However at the end he saved one. So now he was being interrogated to get its location or any information. However in his mind it was long gone. A life full of regrets wasn't absolved but he let himself be hurt peacefully.

Little does he know... his life is about to change. A purple and green explosion blew the door open, the uniformed team were all blasted back. Blair's vision was fading as he saw the Pokémon he saved. It came back. His last words he thought he could ever say were as follows.

"Celebi... run away. You let me go with... no regrets."

However he was lying through his teeth. He wanted to live, he wanted to scream, he wanted to go on an adventure. He was still young, he still wanted to go. He wanted to live. LIVE! However his eyes were pure. A melancholic thought unrelated to the situation passed through his head. 'Ah I died without even having my first kiss.' Then everything was green around him and he blacked out.

"Blair, get up! Get up or you'll miss it."

Barely registering what was going on Blair rubbed his eyes. Everything was blurry for a moment but then it was clear. The smell suddenly shot him awake. It was a smell he never forgot in his life. It was the smell of the day he lost his chance to live a different life. The day he was the only kid left behind. April 1st. He looked down at his body in horror and then he laughed. His brain raced faster than a timid Ninjask running from lightning. He simply rubbed his eyes. 'I can see? My vision is clear? I'm young again. It's April 1st. I missed it before.' He slept through this before. That's right he was... but... Celebi? Blair rushed towards his closet and put on a ratty t-shirt and jeans before running to the bathroom and brushing his teeth. He ran back to his shared room and lifted up a floorboard by his bed and grabbed his wallet. Then he left. His stomach growled but he ignored breakfast to run towards his dream. His destiny. He would leave today... no matter what. Out the orphanage, to the left. Up the hill... harder. His long hair whipped behind his small and malnourished body as he screamed and ran. He ran and ran. However...

"I'm sorry... Blair... but we don't have any Pokémon left. The other kids in Pallet already got them."

The same line. The same... line. He was still too late. Tears welled up. It was like he was ten instead of twenty three on the inside. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his tears.

"Give me a pokeball then."

"What?"

"I'll catch my first partner! I will become a trainer no matter what! I need to try and become the champion of Kanto! No every region! I need to try and be the best in the world! I won't let my dream die here professor!"

The professor was taken aback by the outburst and sighed. Then he looked at Blair with his brown eyes.

"Do you love Pokémon Blair?"

"With all of my heart! I can prove it! I studied... I know a lot! I know how to be a trainer! I know how to take care of myself?"

"So you want to leave home already?"

"I'm an orphan! No one will miss me! Professor! Please! Something! Anything." Then he broke. "I... just want a friend. I just want to travel and try to reach my dreams with a friend." Blair's brown eyes looked up at the professor who was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Maybe wait until next year..."

"No!"

Suddenly there was a green glowing light. A certain Pokémon flashed through and landed on Blair's head. Nearly giggled and then his body glowed. Then it disappeared as quickly as it came. The professor's jaw was nearly dropped at the sight. Blair's eyes were now a brilliant green as he looked forward earnestly. Tears threatening to spill out again.

"I... don't see how I can say no if even Celebi vouches for you..." The sentence was quiet and the professor didn't ask for more information. He understood people had extraordinary encounters even in ordinary places, if the child had that kind of encounter and still... Then the professor looked serious for a moment.

"Don't make me wait another day for my dream, please."

"... Are you willing to take ANY Pokémon as your partner? No matter how weak or strong? Do you promise to raise it with all the love in your heart!"

"YES!"

The professor smiled and handed him a pokeball and a pokedex. Then he brought him to an Aquarium in the lab inside was a Magikarp aggressively beating at the glass.

"Are you willing to take even the weakest Pokemon as your partner if your dream is to be the best?"

Blair stopped for a moment and looked inside the Magikarp's eyes. The fight. The determination. This was a magikarp that didn't want to remain a weakling.

"What were your plans for her?"

The professor raised an eyebrow at Blair's instant ability to differentiate gender.

"Dinner." He spoke truthfully. "After such a fight yesterday I was saving her for something good but... I can have pasta instead. Go on, catch her and get out. Live your dream kid."

Blair stopped for a moment and then looked inside the aquarium. He raised his hand holding the pokeball and spoke firmly.

"Leviathan! That's what you will be! The terror of the seas! Let's call you Levie for short. Do you want to come with me and fight?"

She stopped batting at the aquarium for a moment and stared. Then the professor opened the top of the aquarium. Instantly she jumped out and hit the pokeball he held out. He dropped it in surprise. One... two... three.

So the story of a boy and his Magikarp started. First victim, all of Kanto.


	2. Eroding Brock

Blair took a deep breath. He was now in the Viridian Center Pokemon center. He already exchanged his physical 3000 Poke for digital currency on his dex. He also checked out Leviathan's amazing move set as well as updated her nickname and observations about her. Her public profile in the Trainer's Association was as follows...

Leviathan (Magikarp) - Female

Adamant Nature

Likes to thrash about

Moves: Splash, Tackle

"At least you have one attacking move... however I know one I need to teach you before we enter the forest. In the mean time I should get a part time job. Thankfully this is a city in Kanto so... yay child labor!"

Blair ended up working part time at the local mart by the way. Stocking the goods, cleaning, and other miscellaneous tasks. As for the pay... don't ask. He made less each day than he would if he fought and beat one trainer each day. Yeah... one day's worth of work didn't even cover a day's worth of food. Well, that's Kanto for you.

After one week he became a lot more adept at finding berries and other wild edibles on Route 22 where he'd go to train. He'd lose more than he won... and finally after two months... Leviathan still couldn't learn the move he was trying to teach her.

"... I've been wondering this for a while but... are you stupid or something?"

"Karp! Magi!" Obviously this led to a tail slap to his face. Which did... no damage. However it got him thinking... could Magikarp learn only limited moves because of their body or because of their intelligence?

After four more months he concluded it was definitely intelligence, and that no trainer actually had the patience to train a Magikarp properly. Every day they practice and on the fateful day her splash was able to reach a height of over ten feet. Normally Magikarp weren't supposed to be able to jump over seven... according to the Pokedex at least however he was pretty sure that was outdated in his day and age.

Now something should be said about Blair's mental health. He was an average person that suffered torture at the hands of an evil team... this was not pleasant or even mild torture. His mind was already a bit broken. By now he spent nearly a year (as more time passed) going hungry nearly every day and feeding Leviathan first every single day. What's more is she didn't evolve, didn't learn the move... and was commonly eaten for dinner. Yet for some reason he treasured her and always made sure she ate before him!? Quite frankly it is my belief that he is severely mentally ill. However just as (at least I imagine) his willpower was about to break a miracle happened. Leviathan didn't use splash. She jumped high up in the air and then slammed down. It was Bounce. A flying type move that basically consisted of... jumping really high. Over time it must be said that Blair also barely managed to scrape together a set of new clothes. It also should be said that every day he washed up in a pond. After going through so long of waiting he was ready... it should be known that MOST Magikarp after being trained for a year like she was would evolve. So... clearly something was a bit different. Anyways now he was finally in the forest... and in his first battle.

"Butterfree! Use Confuse Ray!"

"Bounce!"

Before the ray could hit Leviathan she already was in the air to dodge the move the poor Bug Catcher tried to give another order but her Butterfree was destroyed in a single move.

"... I lost... to a Magikarp... in one move? How? Why?" Her sense of common sense was crumbling... who trained a Magikarp!? Like seriously? The Fishers?

"Donations will be accepted to the bank of Blair. If you want to travel with me I can waive your losing fee."

She stared at him with dots for eyes and then sighed.

"Rules are rules... it WAS an official battle... also there's no way I'm going to be caught dead traveling with a kid who uses only a Magikarp."

"I plan to catch a friend in the forest though?"

After transferring 100 poke from dex to dex she left. Blair shrugged and continued his rampage. Bug Catcher's everywhere had their common sense destroyed. Brutal, efficient, in a single move he destroyed their Pokemon. After making it to near the end of the long maze that was a forest Blair took a look at his pillaged... er legitimately earned money. A satisfied smile spread across his face.

"I think I made more today than I would if I saved up for weeks without buying anything..."

Now there was still a single order of business he was on the search for another partner. He had ten pokeballs at his side ready to be thrown after knocking the Pokemon out swiftly. I mean... not catching them after knocking them out would be just rude... more importantly why would he NOT be able to catch a Pokemon after knocking it out? That just makes no sense, ever, at all. It's not like this was a game and they needed a balancing mechanic so you didn't just knock them out and get a catch with a single pokeball every time thus making the masterball and better balls useless to a large degree. Anyways after searching enough he found his new victim partner.

"Pi!"

"Don't let her escape! Tackle her Leviathan! Recruit! Recruit!"

Leviathan charged at the defenseless bug who then used string shot to escape by spitting it out and then retracting it back. Blair rubbed his eyes at the Timid Caterpie and then smiled. It soon became an elaborate game of Tag that eventually ended with the Caterpie falling for the ultimate bait. Blair returned Leviathan and dropped a cookie as he walked away. Then he waited. And waited. Cautiously, slowly, the highly curious bug who was timid in nature started to nibble on the cookie. His gamble paid off because of his observations.

"She's not perfect in terms of Special Attack but... she is close to it plus being timid means she'll be faster than most other Caterpie as well as weaker in physical attack. That's pretty ideal actually... well when she becomes a Butterfree. Not to mention being timid means she'll love sweet foods and hate spicy foods and being highly curious... the cookie would definitely work."

The plan was flawless, absolutely flawless. He threw the pokeball and just as he was about to catch the bug a Pidgeotto swooped down and grabbed the Caterpie. Also dodging the ball...

"Oh hell no. Leviathan Bounce ASAP!"

He threw the pokeball out and Leviathan did a mighty bounce paralyzing the Pidgeotto. (Because jumping really high can paralyze things when you hit them on the way down.) As the poor Caterpie fell to her almost certain doom Blair sprinted and ended up throwing a pokeball hitting her on the way down.

1... 2... 3... ding. Either because she didn't have the energy or was simply too scared to go out because of the Pidgeotto Blair caught a new team member. However now he had another issue. The Pidgeotto was attempting to grab Leviathan. It rose higher, clutching the poor Magikarp and finally dropped it from up high.

"No way a wild Pidgeotto knowing Sky Drop? Like seriously?"

Leviathan fell down to the ground but still held on due to Magikarp having surprisingly decent defense. (No Seriously. Also good speed.) The fight in her eyes blazed forth and she was ready to fight to her utter doom to take her enemy down with her. She flopped on the ground excitedly.

"Alright! Here we go!"

The Pidgeotto came closer as it attempted to swoop down after Leviathan again. Just as the talons almost grabbed her Leviathan bounced up high dodging the move. Not knowing where the victim left the bird looked around helplessly and then got slammed into the ground. Blair walked over slowly to the poor bird. Catch it? Finish it? Dinner?

"You're lucky I'm vegetarian."

One pokeball later he had another team member he was responsible for feeding. Later at the Pewter City Center... This Pidgeotto... he was traumatized. He cowered in fear at Leviathan's mighty presence.

"Karp!"

Definitely not a good enough read yet to figure pretty much anything about the new bird except...

"You must be starving... here."

The Pidgeotto immediately retreated from Leviathan and hid behind blair while pecking silently on some bread. Tears evident in its Keen Eyes.

"I didn't even know Pidgeotto COULD learn Sky Drop... let's check your moves."

As it turns out...

Pidgeotto - Male

? Nature

?

Ability: Keen Eyes

Moves: Sand Attack, Peck, Gust, Tackle

So in short there was no actual move for Sky Drop. It simply picked Leviathan up and Leviathan managed to break free. As for the Caterpie.

Caterpie - Female

Timid Nature

Highly Curious

Ability: Shield Dust

Moves: String Shot, Bug Bite, Tackle

So now Blair had to come up with two nickames and figure out the Pidgeotto... as it turned out he absolutely hated bitter food and loved cookies as much as the Caterpie. Furthermore he was easily tricked... Naive it was without any doubt. He also had incredible hearing and looked in the direction of any minor noise... Alert to Sounds. It was the perfect speed demon... well for a Pidgeotto. So now it was updated in the registry. Also it was pretty obvious what Leviathan's ability was... Swift Swim. I won't show you the whole thing. She was super fast in the water. He named his Pidgeotto Jet and the Caterpie was named Delilah. Now Blair was with them at the local pond eating ice cream. He got Leviathan a Tomato Berry flavor. Delilah and Jet enjoyed Pecha Berry flavor together in harmony. It was kinda funny... there was no fear between the two and no longer any attempts to eat the bug. Simply put Caterpie were bitter... Jet was starving... it was a drastic life decision. Also Delilah was pretty comfortable after knowing she was safe. Blair was enjoying Vanilla flavor by the way. Keyword... was. He took a lick of his ice cream and then bent down to the pond to hand Leviathan her cone. On the bounce up in one fell swoop she ate her cone and on the way down snagged the vanilla cone as well. This... was war. A bird and a bug stared as a boy played 'tag' with his Magikarp for hours. Finally the sun came down, Leviathan rested inside the water and was already full of energy. Jet was as well after some potions and Delilah was never hurt.

"Screw sleep the gym is still open, let's get my first badge."

He made this resolve at the water's edge.

"Karp! Karp Magikarp!"

"Brag about having the only type advantage on my team when you learn an actual water move!"

Leviathan went to the water's surface and turned sideways then with a mighty flutter of her tail soaked Blair in water once more.

"... Let's just go."

Brock was doing push-ups as he was getting ready to close the gym for the day pretty soon. Suddenly a drowned rat appeared slamming the doors up. The drowned rat had black hair that went two inches past his shoulders and unyielding bright green eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dark. Wait... they actually were? Shrugging it off because contacts exist Brock got up and stood with his arms across his bare chest.

"Greetings challenger. I am Brock, the Gym Leader of Pewter City. My Pokemon and I will show you what it means to have rock hard determination! Now as per the league rules how many badges do you have?"

"You will be my first badge."

Brock laughed.

"Good confidence but let's see if you can back it up. I will send out two Pokemon feel free to use as many as you want."

Blair stared at his Brock hard abs and surprisingly didn't drool. A single thought entered his mind... being eleven sucks. Especially being a late bloomer. He wouldn't get to appreciate the human body properly until he was thirteen again.

"Alright bring it on! FIrst I'll send out my amazing new friend Delilah!"

"Hmph I see. Geodude go!"

Both pokemon were revealed and Brock was ready for an easy win after seeing the Caterpie. Delilah instead of having fighting spirit began to cower about.

"Delilah if you win I'll give you an extra sweet sugar cookie!"

"Cater... PI!"

A blazing fire was lit. Holding in his laughter at the ridiculousness of a Caterpie winning Brock spoke,

"The challenger may have the first move. Let us begin!"

Blair thought about how cheap the gym must be if there was no referee available but... whatever it was fine.

"Delilah! Use string shot on the Geodude!"

"Geodude! Rock Throw!"

"Snipe the hands!"

In an instant the Geodude attempted to throw some rocks over its head but its arms were soon bound together in string and the rock fell on top of the Geodude.

"Don't stop! Cover it until it can't break free!"

"Break free!"

Try as the Geodude might it soon became overwhelmed by the vigor of her sticky string. She put in al of her effort for that cookie. Brock was left dumb founded as his Geodude soon stopped struggling. His mind was nearly broken at the ridiculousness of it. This only happened because Geodude was also trapped under a rock. Then Delilah started glowing... the two watched the glory that was evolution as a Metapod was finally revealed after she covered herself in string shot and broke free.

"Geodude is unable to battle... the winner is Metapod... return Geodude." Brock returned his Geodude into the ball and remained silent for a moment. Contemplating further what the hell just happened. "Alright next up! Let's go Onix!"

Delilah looked back at Blair and then at the Onix.

"If you win this then I'll give you four cookies instead of one."

"POD!"

"Alright... as the challenger you may have the first move."

"String shot!"

"Take Down!"

"Aim for the ceiling, get away!"

Delilah released the string and then rocked back whipping the string up and aiming up it reached the ceiling and the gigantic snake crashed into the ground.

"Onix! Go up with Take Down once more!"

"Drop down, mid air aim for a wall and go."

This went exactly as you could imagine. A gigantic snake was rushing towards a tiny bug which with amazing reflexes shot a string to the wall and barely dodged. This game of cat and mouse continued until finally Delilah was out of string.

"Onix! Now they can't run away! Bind!"

"Harden!"

The Onix began to squeeze the bug which was getting harder...

"Keep it up Onix!"

"MAXIMUM HARDNESS!"

and harder. Finally the Onix was barely doing anything except squeezing down on what felt like a bug shaped diamond. Tired... exhausted... Blair issued the finishing blow.

"Bug Bite!"

Just a little bit and suddenly the Onix roared and loosened up then fell mightily. The bug which was in the air was falling down from being held up and squeezed but soon glowed white again... its body split. With a small thud an empty Metapod shell was on the ground and Brock was staring at a Butterfree. He was stupefied, his world was crumbling. Leviathan was pissed inside her ball at being left out. Jet developed another Trauma later after hearing the battle but that's a story we probably won't cover.

"Did I just get punked?"

Silence filled the room as Brock stared at the ceiling.

"Uhm... I believe I earned my badge."

He looked at Blair with his eyes that were for once wide open in shock. Then they were immediately squinting again staring at the eleven year old drowned rat that made a mockery of him and his Pokemon. I he knew they were that good he would have used different Pokemon... maybe even pulled out his Steelix... after deciding that, that was in fact too far Brock smiled.

"Congratulations, you've earned the Boulder Badge and proved to me that you and your Pokemon have Rock Hard determination."

"Don't compare her love of cookies to something as soft as a rock, you'll regret it again in the future."

Brock could only laugh as Blair left for the center to spend another night... of course Brock also gave Blair some money. No TM though... sadly. First Victim defeated... seven more to go.


	3. Misty won't Miss Me

"Speed up! Jet! Come on! Faster!" Right now Blair was in Mt. Moon and Jet was playing a game. Snipe the Zubats. It was totally just a way to learn Aerial Ace not something like using Jet as Zubat repellent. "Delilah! Confusion! Snipe the Zubats!" Delilah was totally just practicing Confusion and leveling up... definitely not something so crazy as to act as Zubat repellant as well. "Leviathan! Bounce! Come one! The winner gets a great prize! JET HOW ARE YOU LOSING TO A MAGIKARP AND A BUTTERFREE!?"

"Geotto!" An indignant cry rang out as the bird stretched his limits to beat his competition.

"I don't care if they're freaks of nature! You should be the fastest!"

The walk through Mt. Moon was relatively pleasant actually. Soon there were no longer any Zubats. It turned out Leviathan won by twenty. Somehow... and now she was juggling Geodude with her tail launching them up. Jet was struggling to pick one up and Delilah was simply resting on Blair's shoulder. Blair did go to the deepest floor and tried to pick up some fossils but couldn't find any. So he ended up going straight through to Cerulean City. Now all of his friends were resting inside their balls.

"The Flower Lagoon City... alright. I think I can actually do this!" It was near night time so the first thing Blair did while in the city was find the pokemon center and spend the night. There was something being advertised that he didn't expect to see. A pokemon contest was happening tomorrow in Cerulean City. The local gym was being used as the venue.

"Huh, alright. So there's contests in Kanto already... I knew they were coming but at this point I thought they were still only popular in Hoenn and Sinnoh. If I can't get a badge let's get a ribbon!"

"Karp!" Leviathan busted out of her ball and started thrashing about.

"Uhhh I know you're mad about being left out of the last gym battle but..."

Blair was interrupted by a surprisingly strong tackle to the stomach.

"Got it... you'll be entering the contest."

"Karp!" She bounced back to her ball with a satisfied sound. That night was spent in planning the entire time. Blair got up early and rushed to the gym when morning came.

"Do you have a contest pass?"

"No but I'm registered as a trainer this will be my first contest."

"Ah then it'll be no problem. I'll need to register the pokemon you have on you."

"No problem!"

...

"You have half of an hour before you're on stage."

"OFF SHOPPING I GO!"

Blair rushed outside and went to the local clothing outlet, he bought a black suit with green highlights as bright as his eyes. He had nice dress shoes and fingerless black gloves as well as a cape with a turqoise inner lining. His hair was set free for now. He rushed back to the stage and finally...

"Next up on stage is Blair Loren!"

The curtains opened revealing the gym floor transformed into a watter battle mode as Blair asked. However no one was there, the crowd murmured in surprise.

"Uhm Blair? Please get on stage."

Hearing this Blair started running down the aisle and then jumped on stage. He turned around and with a loud dramatic voice announced.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to the show!" He did a bow as he smiled. "Alright come on out! Leviathan!" Just as he was about to release the ball which he stickered up appropriately a bunch of special effects surrounded him as she let herself out early. He coughed and the crowd laughed. However then they saw Leviathan in all of her mighty glory! The crowd then laughed some more.

"Alright then! Let's go with the first one! Juggling!"

Blair started casually tossing heavy weights to Leviathan the crowd gasped as they expected her to be crushed however what happened soon surprised them as she started juggling them.

"Let's go! Teamwork time!" Leviathan bounced all of the ball weights back and Blair caught them with a hmph. Then she rushed into the water and started swimming around. "Here we go!"

Blair started throwing them into the water and soon they were juggling them together back and forth. Leviathan was visibly struggling as was Blair but they still managed to do it perfectly until finally with an extra powerful flail Leviathan broke the weighted balls open.

The crowd was silent however he wasn't done yet.

"Alright Tomato berries go!"

Blair started throwing out Tomato berries at different parts where Blair sniped all of them down and ate them all, all of the splashing created a rainbow as she dove in and out.

"And now for the finale!"

The gym changed. Now it was a whirlpool in the middle and the water lowered as there were waterfalls on the side. Then a single cookie was dangling from the ceiling. The crowd could smell how spicy it was from the front row...

"GO FOR IT!"

She struggled to swim in the whirlpool but managed to fight the current. With extreme willpower she struggled with everything she had and then made her way to the waterfall. She started speeding up. Faster, faster. She felt her body changing as the waterfall she once struggled to get up was instead easy. She didn't notice the glow or the change, she only focused on reaching an impossible jump for a Magikarp. A jump she knew was impossible but still had to try. The crowd gasped.

"ROOOOOARRR!"

With a mighty roar Leviathan devoured the now all too small cookie and dived down in the water with barely splash, a perfect dive. Then she spun her body and canceled out the whirlpool as her long body came out and nuzzled against Blair. He was crying and hugged her. In that moment the crowd saw a look of pure happiness on their faces. Blair bowed as Leviathan returned to her ball and the crowd roared at this... unusual performance.

It wasn't refined, it wasn't incredibly prepared, it wasn't perfect but it showed their bond. It showed their trust and despite the evolution they saw that the trainer showed no fear. They saw an angry Magikarp that was kind to its trainer as Gyarados. They saw the hard work and training the two underwent. The three judges revealed their numbers... 8 from local Gym Leader and special Guest Judge Misty, 8 from the head of the Vermillion City pokemon fan club, 10 from the local nurse joy. Blair ended up leaving, unable to even pay attention to the other performances. He managed to make his way back to see the final 8 being announced.

"The eight who have made it to the battle round are as follows... in first place we have the Contest Ace aiming for her fourth Kanto Ribbon, Alicia Mendez! In second place..."

It was nerve wracking as Blair waited. He didn't quite know why he cared so much but he did... he actually really did. Perhaps in his mind he was thinking about becoming a coordinater as well.

"In seventh place we have first time rookie performer who had an evolutionary finale... Blake Laurel!"

Blair deflated as he wanted to scream how they have got to be kidding him.

"In eight place another rookie performer with an evolutionary finale... Blair Loren!"

Blair perked up and then looked up and saw his face up there. His heart beat quickly and he felt something coming up... tears slowly started to fall from his face as he slumped down in exhaustion. He did it... he actually made it past the first round. He didn't know why but more and more this was becoing important to him.

"We will have a thirty minute break for the coordinaters to get prepared. In the mean time on the big screen we will have Misty do her own demonstration as part of the Cerulean Sisters Mermaid water show."

It was beautiful, she and her sisters were in sync with their pokemon in their mermaid costumes. Blair looked at the older ladies clad in nothing but a bikini and mermaid tail, regretting the fact that such art was truly not appreciated yet. After a half hour the show ended and Misty returned to her judge's corner, sopping wet. She had a brilliant smile on her face.

"Now will the eight coordinaters step on stage!"

Blair wiped his eyes and stepped on stage with the others. He was standing next to Blake, a man with short black hair who was incredibly tall.

"Hey man, you have one determined Magikarp, well Gyrados now but that doesn't mean I'll give in at all!"

Blair smiled.

"If it's a battle then I feel like I can do it!"

"The pairings are as follows... in the first battle we have Blair and Julio!"

The other pairings were announced Blake ended up fighting someone named Theresa and Alicia ended up fighting a man named Drent. Julio was a man with tanned skin that seemed to be of hispanic descent. He had a thing mustache and curly hair, he seemed to be around sixteen years of age.

"In the second round it's a contest battle! Contest battles are five minute battles where each pokemon starts with a certain amount of points, missing or being hit by an attack can cause the pokemon to lose points. Likewise if an especially appealing combination is pulled off more points can be deducted, if a pokemon faints it is called a battle off. With that said let the battle begin!"

"Let's go Jet!" Blair released Jet from his ball who started flying around the stage and then landed on the ground with a soft coo.

"Alright! Maractus come on out! It's Salsa time!"

Blair was surprised at the non native pokemon being sent out but that was all. The Maractus had a sombrero on as it danced around to begin.

"Jet... are you ready to do this?"

"Geotto!"

"Maractus, let's show them some spicy moves! Petal Dance!"

"Jet! Aerial Ace into the leaves! Spin in!"

The Maractus danced around before sending a flurry of beautiful pink petals towards Jet who started going straight at the Maractus. His keen eyes and excellent speed allowed him to turn his body to dodge the leaves as they came at him.

"What a daring manuever! Blair's Jet has no fear as he charges in! Like a brave fighter pilot!"

Then Jet swooped in and nailed the Maractus who rolled back but recovered to its feet. No Blair would say his as this Maractus was somehow obviously male.

"No giving in!"

Maractus kept dancing, unable to stop as he tried nailing jet.

"Large swoop! Circle in!"

Jet flew around as Maractus kept aiming where Jet was, but still missed and finally Jet was right behind the Maractus.

"Peck!"

At point blank range the Maractus was pecked in the back of the head but rolled up and nailed Jet as he flew away with some petals. Jet faltered slightly but kept going out of reach.

"What a wonderful strategy! Julio's Maractus isn't giving in and manages to hit Blair's Jet as he goes away."

"Jet! Final move!" Maractus was done dancing and he seemed to be a bit dizzy from the ordeal. "Get in close!"

"Spiky Shield!"

"Sand attack!"

Right before the spiky shield came up, Jet flung small bits of rock and sand from the stage towards the Maractus eyes who then punched itself in the face.

"Battle off! The winner is Blair's Jet!"

Jet circled back and landed on Blair's outstretched arm. Blair fed him a cookie with a smile and the crowd clapped. Julio smiled bitterly, he didn't expect to find such a daring trainer immediately upon entering Kanto.

Blake won a hard fought battle with his Beedril and Alicia absolutely demolished her opponent in a single swift move from her Rapidash. Blair didn't see these battles as he rested in the back.

"Leviathan I'm going to use you in the finals. Okay? I need you to rest more. So Delilah you will go up next!"

Delilah seemingly shivered but then nodded. Blair fed her a cookie to placate her and give her more courage. Finally it was time... Blair was facing Blake in the second round.

"Next up we have Blair and Blake in the semi-finals! Which trainer will show us who is the true master of BL?"

"I'm straight!" Blake yelled while blushing. Blair mildly thought if they were shipped together already then put on an evil smile.

"I'm not."

"You're eleven!"

"Meh." You know Celebi, you REALLY didn't have to send him back in time. 23 was still perfectly young... Blair's eyes glowed green as he released Delilah while Blake released...

"Let's go King! Give them the royal smack down!"

"Oh a Nidoking we got this."

"Let the Contest Battle begin."

"King use ice beam!"

"String shot the ground around him as you go up!"

King unleashed a mighty beam of ice that Delilah barely dodged while firing somewhat inprecise string around King.

"Keep going King! You can get her! Aim where she will be not where she is!"

"Connect the horn to the ground! Dive down!"

Delilah connected the King's horn to the ground through a thick string as she dived down getting hit slightly by the ice beam.

"AIM FOR THE FEET AND FLIP! PREPARE FOR A HEAD ON SHOT!"

"KING GO!"

Delilah did a backflip as she sped towards the Nidoking who stood its ground and fired off a beam of ice.

"Do a barrel roll!"

Delilah's body started glowing as she came in close and then her body glowed purple. With a single roll the Ice Beam hit her and then she broke through with increased speed.

"FREE!"

"CONFUSION!"

With a bright flash King was seeing stars and then Delilah hit the string with her powers slamming King down into the string shot unable to move. She barely flew back with her frosted wings fluttering irregularly.

"THRASH! BREAK FREE!"

King started thrashing about wildly breaking free from the sticky string and then charged wildly at Delilah. Delilah was on her last legs, but she remained firm. She wanted to make Blair proud, she wanted to prove her place, she wanted the cookies for winning!

"Confusion!"

Another bright flash and then King in his thrashing fell down to the ground tripping. However he got up and tried to hit Delilah who was too far up to reach.

"KING! JUMP!"

"Delilah! Gust him off course just a little."

"What!?"

King jumped and Delilah swayed back and used Gust. As King fell backwards he landed on his head and was knocked out. The judges were speechless.

"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BATTLE! A DARING SHOW! BATTLE OFF! KING IS UNABLE TO BATTLE WITH ONLY THIRTY SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK! THE FINALS WILL BE ALICIA vs. BLAIR!"

Delilah weakly fluttered to Blair who collapsed as his heart beat. He smiled softly at her.

"You are the most tenacious damn Butterfree in the world... and you did spectacular. Even if you lost I wouldn't have been more proud."

"Free." She rested softly in his arms as the crowd cheered. It was less elegant than most contest battles but it was something real. Blair looked up to see Delilah's points barely hanging in there.

"We will have a ten minute break before the finals. In the meantime please use the bathroom or anything else you need. We promise this finale to be a wonderful one for the premier of Cerulean City's first Pokemon Contest!"

Blair walked down the aisles with a soft smile as he carred Delilah while she nibbled on a cookie. He wanted some fresh air, he was stopped at the door by a woman with bright red hair and tanned skin. It was short but brilliant and she wore a dazzling suit.

"You're a good battler but... I'll show you I'm the better Coordinater and Trainer."

Blair smiled.

"I'll show you I'm the best."

She smiled and then sighed.

"Let's have a good match."

"Yeah."

After seven minutes they both walked in together and got ready. Finally it was time. Blair of course remembered to check Leviathan's dex information.

Leviathan (Gyarados) - Female

Natuer: Adamant

Characteristic: Likes to thrash about

Ability: Intimidate

Moves: Bounce, Tackle, Bite, Thrash

"Leviathan! Center stage! All eyes are on you!"

"We won't back down! Tank, show them what you can do!"

On stage a Gyarados and a Blastoise were staring each other down.

"Bite!"

"Withdraw!"

Leviathan charged in but Tank used WIthdraw. Leviathan lost points as her move was mostly prevented.

"Now rapid spin!" While still in Leviathan's mouth Tank started to spin making Leviathan slam to the ground from upwards and release. Tank then got out with a roar.

"Toise!"

"Levie! We're not done!" She roared in agreement and got up to stare at her opponent.

"Tackle!"

"Seismic Toss!"

Leviathan charged towards Tank who grabbed her head and slid back until finally he stopped and then started spinning her. Over and over.

"THRASH!"

Just as Tank was about to release Leviathan started Thrashing wildly, her tail struck his foot which made him trip. Then brutally she thrashed her body into the prone turtle over and over. Absolute viciousness that made the crowd stunned in silence. Then she settled down and stopped, her world spinning...

"TANK! HYDRO PUMP!"

"TOISE!"

"LEVIE! YOU CAN DO IT! BOUNCE!" She curled her body to bounce but was nailed by a large torrent of water unleashed from Tank's cannons. She was laid out on the groun but then shook her head from the water.

"TANK DON'T GIVE HER A CHANCE! HYDRO PUMP AGAIN!"

"Bounce."

Blair's voice was quiet, calm. Leviathan heard it perfectly. She coiled up like a snake about to strike and then used the position to bounce up. The water missed her entirely as she jumped high into the air. The small wings by the side of her head flapping eagerly. Tank looked around confused for a moment but...

"FROM ABOVE! CATCH HER AND SEISMIC TOSS!"

"Keep calm. You can do this."

SLAM! Her massive body hit the Blastoise who tried grabbing her but was instead pushed back from the force of the blow.

"What a powerful force! Leviathan's sky bound attack nailed Tank and he failed to grab her."

"Next! Curl up! Bounce sideways to the Blastoise!"

Before Alicia could react properly Leviathan transitioned her body into another attack chasing Tank.

"TANK HOLD ON! Seismic toss!"

Suddenly a buzzer rang right before the two hit. Tank grabbed Leviathan stopping her but then no throw. He released her and she gave him a gentle nudge upon being released. Tank visibly blushed at her fearsome demeanor.

"NO! NO FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE ENEMY!"

Blair quickly checked the dex... Tackle was replaced... with Attract.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Alright it's a close one but as you can see the winner is... Blair's Leviathan! Blair has earned the ribbon for the Cerulean City contest."

Alicia stepped forward with a hand and Blair shook it not expecting his hand to suddenly be clamped down.

"If your giant snake gets any idea just see what happens..."

He smirked and replied...

"Sorry you're not my type."

Confusion, understanding, anger. Blair had a red handprint on his face as he was given the happily thrashed on stage strutting around in front of the crowd. Soon she got dizzy and passed out though...

"Wow you're battling was excellent! You should totally come challenge my gym!"

"Don't worry! I'm going to challenge you tomorrow!"

"It's a deal." Blair shook hands with Misty that presented him with the ribbon.

Later that night at the pokemon center...

"What are YOU doing here?"

It was Alicia asking Blair as he came in.

"Staying the night... duh."

"Hmph. I will beat you next time! I would have won if it didn't end then."

"Yeah... probably."

"Yeah that's right... wait... what?"

Blair just shrugged non commitally.

"You probably will... I still can't believe I won. You're strong... incredibly. You should take the gym challenge... I want to fight you in the pokemon league."

"Wait... you want to fight me at the pokemon league?"

"Yeah! Let's see if you're capable of handling my huge snake then!"

Another slap and she left to another corner of the room with a beet red face. Blair shrugged.

"Ah wells... being eleven lets me get away with a lot doesn't it?" Blair didn't want to quite admit it but his mentality was completely that of an immature 11 year old. After a good night's rest he woke up early and made his way to the gym. Misty stood up on a pedestal and the gym was completely remodeled again. The stage opened up to reveal a water floor with rocks jutting out as platforms.

"Welcome Blair! I was expecting you! Are you ready for a three on three battle!"

"Yeah! You'll be my second badge!"

Suddenly it seemed as if her hair went down a bit.

"Wait... seriously? You only have one badge? That's like... cheating!"

Blair laughed.

"Let's get going!"

"Sheesh, alright as the challenger you can have the first move. Go Psyduck!"

"Let's get going Delilah!"

Delilah rested on a rocky perch as her Psyduck was inside the water splashing. Blair frowned and then thought about it for a moment. Psyduck can access psychic powers when it suffers from a headache.

"Alrightt now... use string shot!"

"Dive underwater Psyduck!"

The string hit the water surface doing nothing and then Psyduck was underwater however Delilah and Blair couldn't see where it was. Well Blair would insist the Psyduck was male oh so obviously which it was anyways but... not everyone can tell a pokemon's sex at first glance.

"NOW!"

The energetic yellow duck soon burst out the water slamming into Delilah knocking her off of the rock perch.

"Delilah! String shot Psyduck to the rock!"

She managed to hit Psyduck and stuck him to the rock.

"Water gun!"

"Sleep Powder!"

Delilah got hit but so was Psyduck who was soon getting drowsy and soon fell asleep on the rock.

"Psyduck get up!"

"STRING SHOT! Don't stop!"

Delilah began circling around the rock trying up Psyduck more and more until finally she was satisfied.

"WATER GUN!"

However Psyduck's mouth was shut.

"Confusion!"

Psyduck started getting hurt and finally a massive headache came on... the strings and the rocks started glowing blue around Psyduck.

"Way to go Psyduck! Use confusion!"

The string blew off and rocks started flying towards Delilah.

"Gust."

A breeze blew and then Psyduck was blown against the wall as a rock hit Delilah. Both were unable to battle.

"Wow... a double knock out. Well I guess I have to take things more seriously. Starmie you're up next."

"Jet, fly in for battle."

Delilah was returned and Jet came out of his ball with a coo.

"Alright as the challenger you can have the first move."

"Aerial Ace!"

"Starmie! Dive underwater!"

"Speed up!"

Jet managed to strike the Starmie as it went underwater. I'm safe on this one, Starmies have no sex. However Starmie still went underwater despite being hurt.

"Fly up!"

"Starmie come up and water pulse!"

"Jet!"

Starmie came out and soon Starmie fired off a ball of water that slammed Jet against the wall. He flew around dizzily for a moment before falling down into the water.

"Nice! Starmie, keep striking underwater with tackle!"

"Jet come back! Leviathan come out."

Misty smiled.

"Ah taking advantage that the challenger gets to substitute pokemon right?"

Blair nodded.

"Yeah... I was hoping to beat you all one on one but Jet will have obviously lost that."

Misty shrugged.

"Well it's fine. Starmie, prepare yourself."

"Leviathan let's go! Bite."

"Rapid Spin!"

Starmie started spinning rapidly as Leviathan came down with her teeth.

"Aim for the core."

"WHAT!?"

Crk. Her teeth bit down on the starfish pokemon's core soon the spinning stopped and Misty looked on surprised.

"Release it."

Leviathan dropped the Starmie unceremoniasly on a rock.

"Alright... Starmie you did great. Come back. Now let's go... Gyarados!"

Blair saw that her Gyarados was male and immediately felt like victory was in hand.

"Leviathan gently stroke the underside of his chin with your tail."

"Twister!"

Misty's Gyarados started a massive twister from the tail but Leviathan's tail was incredibly swift and then gentle... the next thing he knew his twister stopped and he was putty.

"Now wrap the tip of your tail around his."

Misty's Gyarados had hearts for eyes as it floated belly up, a sign of submission. Leviathan had a triumphant grin. Misty started to go pale.

"Wait what's happening? No. No. NO! EW! STOP IT!"

"Levie! Just knock him out!"

Somewhere Tank felt like his heart was hurting for an unknown reason. With a massive Thrash Misty's Gyarados was unable to battle and awoke to a new sensation.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"She uh... likes to 'thrash' about."

"TAKE THE BADGE AND LEAVE PERVERT!"

Blair got his badge, returned Leviathan to her ball much to her annoyance, pocketed some money for winning and left. It was probably best not to show his face around here for a while... so while nugget bridge was tempting he figured he just wanted to get out of here. He ran off to the right of Cerulean City, wanting to go through the cave straight to Lavender town.

2 Victims down, six left to go.


	4. Loss

Blair was down on his knees while his face was looking downwards. Tears splashed down at the grave in Pokemon Tower. He looked up at the tombstone, remembering what happened a year ago.

"Why did this happen?"

Memories came flooding back as he remembered… he remembered what happened since he left Cerulean City. He remembered the past year. At first he ran to Route 22, the trainers were easily beat by his trio. Blair couldn't have been happier with this start… it took him a single week until he reached the cave to Lavender Town. At first the cave was fine, there were some hikers, there were some Pokemon, there weren't any threats though. It was calm and peaceful with laughter and cookies. His tears unlocked like a flood as he remembered further. Leviathan came out of her pokeball to pay her respects and wrapped her tail comfortingly around Blair. At first he could only remember bits and flashes… and then soon the memories came as fresh as yesterday's. Rocks.

"Man, this cave is actually pretty boring. I went this route because I was hoping for some more excitement and training opportunities." Never has he said a line that he regretted more. There was a crack and Blair bumped into another wall like usual, just what he got for stubbornly wandering a dark cave without proper lighting. Then the cracking sound grew louder and suddenly…

"FREE!" Delilah broke out of her ball and slammed Blair away with her psychic power. Then they fell… large rocks came crashing down before the bug could do anything except save Blair's life. Crash. The rocks didn't stop falling for a while and when Blair finally came to there was only a large pile of rocks in front of him that Leviathan and Jet were working to remove with all of their might. He immediately started to try and move. Unaware his ear drums were bleeding, unaware of anything else. His hands became bloody as he worked desperately. Hours passed and then there was a single large rock that couldn't be moved. Sticking out from under the rock was a single wing… it was removed from the body.

"MOVE IT! MOVE IT! WE CAN MOVE A LARGE BOULDER! DELILAH!? DELILAH! DELILAH! DELILAH! DELILAH!" He shouted as they all pushed. Five seconds… ten minutes… two hours… they couldn't move the boulder. It was too late.

"DELILAH!"

Then footsteps slowly walked up from behind.

"I wanted to get the trainer but instead I got a worthless bug. Hand over your Pokemon and you won't have to suffer the same fate as… Delilah was it?"

"SHUT UP! You don't deserve to say her name!."

"Whatever… Rhydon Horn Drill!" The man unleashed a pokeball and the charging Rhydon came towards Blair however in the next moment there was a vicious roar. Leviathan's tail glowed and then struck the Rhydon hard against the wall. Blair finally got a good look at the man… he was in uniform. An all too familiar uniform. Blair's eyes started to glow green in the dark and he could now see perfectly.

"Aerial ace, ten feet up then dive bomb at a 45 degree angle to your right."

Despite not having night vision Jet trusted Blair's commands easily. The mans pokeball belt was snatched and Blair slowly walked forward. He saw it… the man tried punching him but it didn't happen yet. Blair moved his head and then grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over his back. The image of him doing so entered his mind easily and then he executed it. The man in uniform silently laid there. Blair slowly walked up to the large rock, ignoring the man on the ground.

"CELEBI! COME OUT! COME OUT HERE! YOU GAVE ME THESE EYES! I don't want them! CELEBI! TURN TIME BACK! SAVE DELILAH! CELEBI!" He deliriously shouted for Celebi to come… but Celebi never showed. He shouted until his voice was barely a whisper and he passed out. The next time he was awake he was in the Lavender town Pokemon Center clutching onto the wing of a Butterfree desperately. He slowly made his way over to Pokemon Tower. The mediums there were helpful and sorrowful with him. On the second floor her wing was burned and buried. Every day Blair visited the wing for a year… never leaving the town… never battling. It was the same story… every damn day. Now that Blair was out of his memories he stared up at the ceiling of the Pokemon Center. He exhaled slowly. Then there was a large explosion. The sound jarred him awake and he ran outside to see what was going on… the top floor of Pokemon Tower was blown out. A ton of men in uniform started running inside the building. Blair remembered this incident now… the incident where the esteemed Dr. Fuji known locally as Mr. Fuji was kidnapped. They got away and the only thing the police could find when they arrived was a shattered top floor and a Cubone crying over a Marowak with a bullet in its head. Before the police took too long from Saffron to get here on time… there were no exceptionally strong trainers in town. No local gym leader. His feet moved on their own.

"Leviathan, Jet… let's go." The door was barricaded. "BREAK IT DOWN!" Leviathan's tail glowed as the day she hit the Rhydon and slammed it against the door which flew back. Blair's eyes were glowing green as they did on that day. His heart pounded as he ran up the first set of stairs. Four trainers…

"Aerial Ace!" Jet flew forward, the trainers in response released their pokemon as defense in time but…

"Let's go! Crunch!"

Blair commanded both of his pokemon and swiftly disposed of the grunts on the second floor. On the second floor there were another 4 trainers… swiftly disposed of. Blair passed by Delilah's grave. On it read…

'Here Lies Delilah… My Savior and Friend. She was the best bug a boy could hope for. Rest in Peace with everflowing honey.'

They were no match for Leviathan and Jet's anger. They recognized the uniforms as well and spared no mercy. There was another explosion on the third floor. Blair kept running and finally made it… only two trainers to guard the path? Weird… however he soon knew why. On the stairs a single Marowak was swinging around a thick club devastating the pokemon around her. A cubone was hiding close by… Three men in uniform surrounded her with multiple pokemon.

"She's resisting too much, we can't weaken her to catch her!"

"Tch then she's worthless."

Blair saw it… the man pulled out a gun and then shot the Marowak dead on the stairs…

"JET AERIAL ACE!" Jet sped forward without a single thought. The man had his gun out and finger on the trigger… then pulled. Jet was too late and the Marowak was still shot.

"LEVIATHAN! BOUNCE!"

A crying Cubone came out and picked up his mother's thick club…

"Do you want to fight too?"

"CUBONE!"

Blair looked at him.

"I was late… I'm sorry. Cubone, bone club!"

1 2 3. All three men were down. Why were all the grunts men? Blair definitely knew there were women in the organization. Finally he made his way to the top story.

"COUGH IT UP OLD MAN! We know you know the secrets of Mega Evolution!"

"Never!"

"LET HIM GO!"

The six people in the room turned to Blair's voice.

"Huh, kid you and what army?"

"My friends each have the strength of an army." His eyes glowed green. Koffing on the left. Arbok on the right. Sandslash down the middle coming up…

"Cubone, bonemarang towards the right! Jet Aerial Ace there! Leviathan! Aqua Tail down the middle!"

Cubone grabbed the Thick Club and then with a small humph he threw it. Just as the Arbok was released the club hit its face and then slammed its head down on the way back. The Arbok was knocked out. The Koffing was caught unaware by the sudden move… as for the Sandslash… it never stood a chance.

"Golbat! Air Cutter!"

Blair saw Jet being hit by the air cutter and then seemingly time reverted again. His nose started bleeding as his head pounded.

"Jet! Strafe left and then shoot forward between their gap!"

The Golbat aimed towards Jet who went in between two men but instead they were the ones hit. Then on his way back he was behind the Golbat.

"Aerial Ace!"

"GEOTTO!"

The Golbat fell from the air after getting hit and as it stumbled Jet hit it again to knock it out. The last remaining grunt screamed as he ran out along with the four other grunts that were defeated. A single person stood there by Dr. Fuji. It was a woman with red hair wearing a mask. She laughed lightly.

"A twelve year old boy is what derails this entire operation?"

Blair stood there fiercely with bleeding eyes. She walked forward and he saw a million different images blurring together. He couldn't see what she was going to do. Finally she was right in front of him and then kissed his forehead before flicking it. He collapsed and she laughed as she walked by.

"I'll let you play hero this time boy. However if you keep doing so you're going to get hurt. I have some subordinates to punish so bye."

Blair's mind couldn't take more as he drifted off to sleep in front of the stunned Dr. Fuji that was still tied up. Leviathan quickly bit through the ropes of Dr. Fuji's binding which freed him successfully. The next time Blair woke up he was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

"That was reckless young man."

"I know."

"You saved my life."

"That was secondary… they killed Delilah… I wanted revenge."

Dr. Fuji laughed lightly and dropped a flute onto Blair's body, and then he spoke,

"Sit up." Blair did so and Dr. Fuji put a necklace on Blair with a rainbow stone on it. "Now young man… I want you to always keep your love for Pokemon. Don't let this hatred consume you… instead rejoice in the memories you had with your precious Delilah. Move forward. You also have a Brave new friend to help you through things. I'm certain this little guy wants to go with you and get stronger with you on your journey."

"Cubone!" The cubone jumped on Blair's lap and stared up at him while holding his mother's club and wearing a skull slightly too big. The skull was replaced…

"Are you sure you want to come with?"

"Bone!"

Blair's tears started dripping down uncontrollably. His eyes were a dull green as he looked at the new friend. He grabbed a pokeball with a shaking hand… the Cubone entered it without any issues. 1… 2… 3… a new friend, no a new family member joined the team.

"Delilah… you were Timid but the bravest Butterfree I ever knew. No the bravest anything I ever knew. I hope this little guy can carry on yours and his mother's courage as he travels with me."

Finally the year long curse was lifted. A single white ball that was over Delilah's grave suddenly disappeared leaving only feelings of pure joy by the grave. She managed to pass on and her trainer was able to move on and not forget. Her time may be over but her legacy will forever live on in Blair and the rest of her odd family. Blair confidently walked down the pier out of Lavender town. He knew this was a way to reach Fuchsia City. One member lost… one member gained… Blair's journey was still just beginning.


	5. A Reunion and Explosive Ending

Blair took a deep breath. He just finished his tenth battle on this bridge that seemed to take forever. Now he was in this weird maze after the bridge there were twins challenging him to a double battle. His eyes weren't glowing as he focused.

"Jet Aerial Ace! Skull, Bonemarang to your left. Jet match his timing!"

"GEOTTO!"

Jet accelerated towards the Kanghaskhan that was left and ended up hitting it full force into the bonemarang and then the return knocked out the enemy.

"Makhan! Wow mister, you're really strong..."

"We have amazing coordination but..."

"It's impossible to get at your level just yet..."

"We'll catch up one day!"

"Wait for us in any double battle tournaments!"

Blair laughed and walked away from the Kanghaskhan Tauros duo without much more thought. Two birdkeepers, three hikers, 2 Pokemon Fanatics. He was finally through the maze... his pokemon were tired and the only one that had much energy left was Leviathan.

"Let's take a rest guys... I'm getting tired."

He ended up sleeping but Leviathan curled around him protectively and comfortably. While he was asleep she would protect her trainer at all costs. She saw his sleeping face and began to reminisce about the time she was caught and then the time they spent. Jet and Skull were also out of their balls at this moment and rested nearby. Jet flew around Leviathan cooing softly. Reminiscing as well about the times. They remembered the times they had together with each other and their lost friend. Skull was confused but Leviathan simply nudged him softly with her tail. Afterwards he began to practice throwing his Thick Club as well as maneuvering it. Even though he was exhausted he had to be brave like the two women before him. His Mom the bravest one he ever knew who risked her life to stop the bad men. As well as the family member he came after, he only heard stories from the fellow Pokemon as their trainer didn't like to talk about Delilah.

Jet flew down by Skull and cooed apologetically for what was probably the twentieth time. Both the bird and the orphan let out a tear. Jet tried, he tried his hardest but failed twice. He let himself down and his wings spread out. Skull looked at the bird in front of him.

"Cubone. Bone..." Skull said sadly but comfortingly.

"GEOTTO! PIDGEOTTO!" Jet responded with anger and sadness. There was a tense moment of silence, Leviathan opened one eye as she observed the two silently. Jet had his head bowed down and then Skull took a step forward and slid with his Thick Club about to slam down on Jet. Leviathan remained calm as did Jet. The swing hit next to Jet and a small hand was patting his head. Jet looked up slowly to see a crying orphan that embraced him. Finally there was peace, when Blair finally woke up Skull was riding on Jet as they were doing loops. Blair rubbed his stomach before making four different porridges for breakfast, two sweet and two spicy.

"I just wanted to tell all of you... thank you. You were all there for me when I was at my weakest... let's not forget Delilah and become the best for her. I know I said I'd move on back in Lavender Town but... it's hard. It's going to hurt more but..." Blair's eyes started glowing bright green as he looked at his team and family. "We're all in this together so we're going to take them by storm. It's a Poison Gym so Skull, you're up as the main star."

"BONE!" Skull said as he twirled his Thick Club confidently. Blair snickered at the cute act but regained his composure.

"Jet you're up to deal with any flying or bug types... keep your speed up we'll need you."

"Geotto!" Jet responded by flying around getting faster and faster until he slammed into a small tree breaking it off and then landing confidently in front of the rest. Blair smiled calmly.

"Leviathan you're going to be needed for raw strength if needed... also I think we're going to need to get a new team member at the Safari Zone, I heard there are really rare pokemon there."

Leviathan thrashed about happily destroying nearby grass and small trees. Jet and Skull dodged skillfully until she was finally done and fell down confused. Blair sighed and then firmed his resolve. His eyes kept glowing and he grabbed a mirror as he looked at himself. A split vision of one second into the future and the present.

"Celebi... did you do this to me? Is it a gift or a curse? Why didn't I get it earlier? Just a little earlier and Delilah would be alive..." Two birdkeepers and three Lasses were all made short work of before Blair made his way into Fuchsia City. He had a confident swagger as he went to the Safari Zone entrance. A loud voice boomed out.

"Welcome! The Couple's Cruise is beginning! Exclusively for couples! It's a lovely Safari Zone Ride where you can catch pokemon you see from the boat! After the boat is done then the Couples will be left to explore for a time limit in our beautiful pastures. Only ten chances to catch something, no battling, you may only catch up to three Pokemon per trainer. Only one couple per half-hour per day. Sorry singles."

Immediately Blair frowned. Then he took a deep breath and shouted.

"Who wants to go out with me? At least for a day?"

A few people stopped and looked at Blair, realized he was a twelve year old kid and moved on. However one thirteen year old girl smiled as she walked forward.

"Fancy seeing you here, didn't know you were so desperate for a date."

"Valerie? Wow! I haven't seen you since you left the Orphanage when you were ten!"

The girl smiled, revealing her braces to him as she flexed her arm. Blair looked at her red hair and green eyes for a moment before smiling. Then she looked at him and stopped.

"Weren't your eyes brown?"

"Yeah."

"No explanation?"

"I was a twenty three years old when I saved Celebi and got sent back in time as a gift Celebi gave me green eyes and the ability to see the future."

Valerie just busted up laughing.

"Great story you got there... I'll just take it as colored contacts or I remembered wrong."

Blair shrugged before she suddenly grabbed him aggressively and brought him to wait in line. They would have to wait an hour before their turn and in the meantime were encouraged to eat at the Wild Warden's, the restuarant that the Safari Zone ran. So they did so and caught up.

"So did you get the Charmander you always wanted?" Blair asked while he ate his Sweet Safari Salad like the perfect gentleman.

"Damn right. Mmmph. Derishious. Thish stuff ish good!" Valerie responded in between large gulps of meat and sauce.

"How many times did the House Moms scold you for cursing AND talking with your mouth full. Tsk, Tsk." He replied jokingly.

"Shish good."

He shrugged and finished his Salad but watched her contine to order more... and more... and more...

"So which parent was it?"

"Which parent was what?"

"A Snorlax."

"Snorlax your mum."

"She's dead."

"So ish mine so it'sh fine."

He smiled and they continued to talk.

"You've been on a journey for two years and you only have two badges?"

"Yeah... the first one I stayed in Viridian City for a year to save up money from a part time job. The second time..."

"Delilah, right?"

"Yeah."

"She was a good Butterfree."

"The best bug in the world." He replied as he raised a glass before draining it. It was a cup of bitter tea. She frowned as she looked at him.

"I thought you couldn't stand bitter food?"

"I got into cofee and tea when I turned nineteen." He said absent-mindedly. She just laughed it off as a joke. "Nevermind. What brings you back to Kanto? Didn't you move to Mt. Ember?"

"I got a call that... something's going on. I think you know... recently an evil syndicate tried to take over Lavender Town however a single Trainer rushed up to stop them and saved Dr. Fuji's life. I figured he'd travel to Fuchsia City next. I really wanted to meet him."

"Maybe you will." Blair said as he took another sip. Valerie's eyes softened as she looked at him and then spoke solemnly.

"If you keep playing hero alone you won't be able to handle it... it's okay to partner up."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied. She shrugged. Then the cruise started. Valerie immediately began throwing some rapidly nailing different Pokemon succesfully managing to capture a Slowpoke, a Weepinbell, and an Oddish.

"You kinda just threw those balls wildly."

She shrugged and laid down.

"I didn't have them before and I'm happy with them. 'Sides, now I can relax." Blair shrugged.

"I have a plan..."

"Oh really?"

Blair nodded.

"There's an extremely rare Pokemon here... I believe I can catch her."

"How do you know it's a her?"

Blair shrugged.

"I met her before on an expedition."

"Whatever." Blair just shrugged.

"Other than that I'm looking for Scyther, Pinsir, Chansey, Eggsecute, and either Nidoran. Those all seem like fine additions."

Blair looked intensively and passed on every Pokemon he saw.

"There's a scyther right there, why don't you get it?"

"It's Timid."

"Whatever."

"What about that one?"

"It's Brave."

"Do you want a timid or a brave one!?" Blair just shrugged. Eventually the cruise stopped and they were left to explore. Blair walked around seemingly aimlessly until he reached a lake in the middle.

"So what are we doing here?"

He looked at it and then nodded.

"Making preperations." He took a deep breath and then pulled out a whistle from his backpack. He blew however it seemed is if there was no sound, immediately something jumped out of the water and landed on the middle area in the lake staring at them. Blair smiled and the six foot long dragon raised its head.

"Wow, you're still a Dratini huh? Let's see... Valerie can you step back six feet?"

She grumbled but complied as he laid down and blew the whistle again softly. The Dratini raised up and looked at Blair curiously, then Blair slowly pulled out a piece of cake. It had Pecha Berries on top... instantly with Extreme Speed the Dratini launched itself towards Blair before he could even set the bait down. He was down on the ground as the serpentine dragon began enjoying its meal. He slowly and softly started petting her lower belly. A soft sound rang out from her throat and she began nuzzling up to Blair after eating.

"Man you sure are trusting huh?"

"Kyuu!"

He pulled out another piece of cake but this time there was a flash of cunning in her eyes as she slowly distanced herself.

"There's no catch even if I want to catch you." He set the cake down and a Safari ball next to it. The Dratini looked towards Valerie who sighed and started backing up until finally the Dratini felt safe enough to eat. Then she prodded at the ball once... then twice and was in. 1... 2... 3... captured. Blair grabbed the ball and smiled. "Excellent.."

"BZZT! Time's up! Make your way back to the front desk all Safari Balls will cease functioning until you are out of the park."

"What was that pokemon? I've never seen one before..."

"Dratini, a pokemon so rare they are known to be the Mirage Pokemon."

"How did you know where she liked to be pet, and again how did you know she was a she?"

Blair just winked and they left the park together. She looked at Blair for a moment as they were walking to the local center.

"What is it, something on my face?"

She shrugged.

"You changed. There's a smile on your face now. It's good to see. I'm off."

Without much more she left before he could have a chance to reply he frowned as he thought of what she said on his final walk there. It was night by the time he arrived.

"Hello everyone I think you all need to meet our newest member Ryuko."

Skull, Jet, and Leviathan all watched as the safari ball released the new serpentine team member. She kyuu'd excitedly upon seeing them.

"I don't know how much I can count on her for the next gym but I'm sure in the future she will be an incredibly strong team member."

Leviathan seemed to scoff but inwardly approved. Jet tried to greet her but was soon running out of energy from her absolute abundance of it. Blair just watched his family bond as sleep soon overtook him. Later that night the nurse came to check on him and saw all of his pokemon wrapped around him, taking up quite a large amount of space but she just smiled and let them be. Finally morning came and Blair awoke to all of his pokemon inside of their balls. His stomach growled as the light flickered in.

"Let's get another salad." He said absent-mindedly as he began to stretch and take off. The salad was good but less satisfying this time. Blair picked at it absent-mindedly and ended up leaving without finishing it. "I guess I do miss human contact a bit. I shouldn't feel that way... I have my family... right? Either way it's the time to face the gym."

As soon as he entered the gym he saw the same lady everywhere inside a ninja house with transparent walls. There was a sign that said, "Find the real leader! Before then battle all the imposters you meet." He had a smile on his face as he grabbed Skull's pokeball.

"Hey buddy... are you ready for some practice round. I bet she's the gym leader over there soo..."

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... Blair was unstoppable throughout the nine imposters and finally the lady calmly waited for Blair to stand in front of her.

"Since when did you know I was the real one?"

"The beginning."

She stretched somewhat lazily as she laughed.

"I figured... how many badges do you have? At least five, right?"

"Two." Blair replied with a smirk. The ninja lady shrugged.

"So be it... I guess this will be a three on three battle, is that okay with you?"

"Sounds great. Skull, standby. Jet zoom in for battle!"

"Geotto!"

"Ah, wait I haven't introduced myself."

"Janine, apprentice ninja. Daughter of Koga of the Elite 4, former gym leader and Ninja Grandmaster. Poison type trainer. My third gym leader victim."

She smiled before laughing lightly.

"Fair enough I guess you did your research. Venomoth go! Alright as the challenger you may have the first move."

"Now."

Jet zoomed in and slammed into the Venomoth with an Aerial Ace.

"What!?" Venomoth slammed back but barely managed to stabilize. "Stun spore!"

"Got it! JET! WHIRLWIND IT BACK!"

"GEOTTO!"

Jet began spinning as he flew up and away and then released his wings before flapping heavily and quickly. The wind picked up and soon her Venomoth was caught in its own spores, paralyzed.

"You've gotta be kidding m-"

"NOW!"

It was finished in an instant, Jet had a glint in his eyes as he slammed into the Venomoth with Aerial Ace finishing it off. Janine was floored at how easily she was taken out.

"Venomoth is unable to battle. Jet wins."

Janine bit her cheek lightly as she returned her Venomoth.

"Great battle so far... he's ridiculously strong. Next up, go Crobat! It's up to you for aerial dominance."

"Crobat versus Jet, let the battle begin." A voice replied again that Blair barely heard. For your information it came from a scared young man that was refereeing all of Blair's battles today.

"Crobat! Poison Fang!"

"Jet, double team!"

Crobat tried launching itself towards Jet who was rapidly multiplying and ended up hitting just an illusion.

"Don't give in! Line them up and cross poison!"

"Scatter! Aerial Ace Barrage!"

All of the illusions scattered and dodged then came together at the Crobat.

"Don't give in! Meet each one head on with Aerial Ace!"

"Pincer!"

Immediately the Crobat began charging towards Jet's copies however something changed, only three were left and one came in straight forward while one came from top and the other came from the bottom.

"Go up!"

"ZOOM IN!"

Crobat went to meet the upper Jet but soon the upper and bottom one disappeared revealing Jet's plan for a head on confrontation the entire time. It was a critical hit to the Crobat's stomach.

"Cross Poison!"

However as Janine gave the order her Crobat held on strong and as it flew back nailed Jet with a poisonous attack from its wings. Jet slammed down to the ground and started getting dizzy as it felt it's energy draining.

"Don't give in Crobat! Aerial Ace!"

"JET! ONCE MORE! FINAL BURST!" Jet felt dizzy and was about to pass out but upon hearing Blair's voice Jet's eyes flashed again.

"Pi... GEOTTO!"

With an intense flapping of his wings Jet hurled his body head on towards Crobat. It was a reckless full on tackle.

"Double-edge? Jet... when did you learn that?"

It was an intense clash where both pokemon were sent back. Jet was slammed back against the ground as Crobat was slammed against the gym wall. Both flying types were knocked out.

"Double knock out! The challenger has two remaining pokemon while Gym Leader Janine only has one left."

Janine walked over to her Crobat and gave it a hug as she whispered how proud she was to it. With a content smile it went back inside the ball. Blair likewise walked towards Jet slowly. Jet opened a single eye looking up at Blair.

"You were absolutely fantastic... there's no way I can lose after you fought so hard."

"Geotto." With a happy cry Jet was returned to his pokeball.

Janine solemnly looked at the floor and sighed before looking at Blair's young figure standing there with fierce eyes.

"You're not the strongest challenger I've ever faced but... definitely the strongest with only two badges. Your Pidgeotto was trained incredibly well."

"Jet's the best." She sighed at his reply and his confident grin.

"Alright then. I guess I have to finish up with my father's legacy... Weezing go!"

Blair frowned and mentally apologized to Skull. Looks like he wasn't going to be used at all in this battle.

"Ryuko! Let's go!"

He released the ball revealing an excited Dratini ready to prove her worth.

"It is Ryuko vs. Weezing... let the battle... begin!"

"Ryuko! Extremespeed!"

"Smokescreen!"

She launched herself at the Weezing with extremespeed but was soon lost in smoke and ended up hitting the wall instead. Blair bit his cheek more. Wishing further that Jet was still left. Aerial Ace never missed...

"Double Team!"

Blair frowned as he remembered her moves... Wrap, Extreme Speed, Thunder Wave... and Twister. He smiled. It was obvious what his only option was.

"TWISTER! Clear away the smoke!"

"Toxic down the middle!"

"Crap!"

Ryuko cleared away the smoke screen as she unleashed a mighty twister from her tail but the Weezing shot down toxic through the eye of the storm... it was a direct hit onto Ryuko as she felt sick almost immediately.

"We're not done yet! Weezing! Smoke Screen yet again!"

"Twister!"

Janine just shrugged as smoke filled the room and Twister cleared away a portion where her Weezing no longer was.

"Your Jet was amazing but I have my ace in the hole as well. Double Hit!"

"Ryuko! Wait for it and Wrap!"

Weezing was still in the smoke and then finally Ryuko collapsed of poison.

"What?"

Blair was floored until he remembered Toxic was an extremely potent form of poisoning however why didn't the Double Hit come? Janine just snickered.

"Ryuko is unable to battle, the winner is Weezing."

Blair returned Ryuko and softly patted her ball.

"Rest... I'll get you to a center soon. Now let's go! Levia-" Right as Blair was about to release Leviathan from her ball Skull came out. He was tired and weary from the previous battles but still held on firmly using his Thick Club as a cane.

"Hey, what's the deal taking out an injured pokemon to fight me? Did the imposters reallly inconvenience you?"

Blair frowned as he looked at Skull.

"Are you sure?"

"CUBONE!" Skull slammed the Thick Club down faintly shaking the ground with unyielding eyes. Blair just smiled.

"Let's go then! Skull! You're up! Smash into the fray!"

"Skull Vs. Weezing the final pokemon on each side... let the battle begin!"

"SKULL! It has the ability to Levitate. Remember the training against Jet!"

"Smokescreen!"

Her Weezing was soon covered in smoke however Skull let out a mighty roar and pounded at his stomach. He almost collapsed almost immediately.

"What!? What is he thinking using Belly Drum at that low of health? A single hit will finish him off! Toxic!"

"Spin your club!"

With extreme force as the Toxic Sludge came down it was immediately flung away by the spinning bone. Skull kept on moving with heavy breathing. Janine was genuinely amazed at this Cubone's perserverance.

"Hmmm perhaps I underestimated the little guy. Double Team!"

"Smack Down!"

Skull slammed his Thick Club against the ground and then a rock was shot up but then immediately with a spin he hit it towards the smoke blindly. Janine frowned.

"Toxic!"

"Smack down the toxic!"

"Get out of the way!"

Immediately as the Toxic came out it was hit back with a rock. The smoke around the incredibly cleared revealing her Weezing that barely got out of the way in time.

"You've gotta be kidding me... getting hit by a single one is bad news and I don't think Weezing can stand two... however one... WEEZING GO IN FOR THE DOUBLE HIT!"

Immediately her Weezing started charging out of the smoke. Blair smiled as he realized her plan.

"It was a good match."

"Yeah it was." Janine replied with a confident grin. Her Weezing was getting closer until...

"Dig!"

"What!?"

Boom. Skull went underground and a large explosion rang out. Janine's eyes shook as she looked at the impossible prediction he made.

"B-but how!?"

"Your Weezing never knew Double Hit... as a Ninja you wanted to try and decieve then go for the double knock out with Explosion. After all a draw ends in the gym leader's win."

Janine stopped being in shock and then started laughing as Skull came out of the ground victoriously. Her Weezing was already knocked out.

"How long did it take you to find out?"

"I saw it."

Blair covered a single eye that was hurting slightly with a frown. He saw it... his original plan to Smack Down. It would have failed. However he felt bitter... he didn't win on his own merit or skill. He won on Celebi's power. Janine however was more than happy to give him the Soul Badge and some money. Blair lowered his head as he walked back to the center to get his pokemon healed. Nurse Joy lectured him for an hour about how reckless he was and Leviathan pouted about being left out of another battle.


	6. Celadon's Centering

Blair stared at the sky as he was walking back up the bridge. Ryuko was swimming alongside Leviathan in the water. Ryuko was basically worshiping her at this point… which Blair took in stride and Leviathan pretended not to care. She did. Jet had Skull on him as they flew around outside the ball stretching for some good air. They were doing target practice on leaves and working on making sure Skull could stay on through the loops. For them it was about getting stronger together, individual strength was important as well but just like at Pokemon Tower they all knew a real battle… it was war and involved all of them. The five travelers knew inside, this wasn't their last time. However no one regretted it. The trip back to Lavender Town was a peaceful one when all was said and done. Well as peaceful as it could have been. Finally they reached back to the town and looked at the tower.

"Ryuko, I want you to meet Delilah. The best bug in the world." They walked up to the second floor and stopped in front of a gravestone. Leviathan mournfully roared softly and lowered her head. Jet shed a single tear as he landed on the grave and cooed. Skull tightened his grip on his Thick Club as he looked at it. "This was her favorite." Blair said softly as he set down a Pecha Berry cookie. Ryuko kyuu'd as she saw the temptation but held herself back, remembering to respect the fallen. Blair took one more moment of silence before leaving the grave. A white orb shimmered as it slowly came up after they left. Next stop was into Saffron City however the road was blocked for some unfathomable reason. Blair just shrugged it off and made his way to Celadon. There was an underground passage as well as some victims along the way. It took a week before reaching Celadon city. Immediately he was bombarded with advertisements in the peaceful floral city.

"Pokemon Contest Deluxe! Three days from now!"

"All you can eat Buffet! !500 Poke"

He mindlessly let the advertisements slip past him as he made his way to the mall. For some reason his body was heavy as he got in the elevator and finally made his way to the top floor. He walked up to the machine and ordered a canned coffee. Then he waited… and waited until finally no other trainers were on the relatively abandoned top floor. He looked out the window and screamed. He screamed to the sky with all of his lungs. Then he crushed his coffee and ordered a lemonade as he sat down.

"Leviathan, Jet, Skull, Ryuko. Water/Flying weaknesses to rock, electric… normal flying also weak to Rock and electric as well as ice… Skull weak to water, grass, ice… Ryuko ALSO weak to ice and dragon." He took another drink. "Also if she becomes a Dragonite that's another weakness to rock…" He took out a piece of paper and started frowning. "By my calculations I need to be really careful of the next two members to balance out the team… or…" He released his pokemon all at once and ordered them each a drink of preference. People occasionally came by as he relaxed with his family and began to talk.

"Listen, everyone. I think it might be obvious at this point but… I'm going to end up having more than six pokemon. This means some of you will have to spend time away from me with the others. Probably at Professor Oak's or whatever I can manage. IS there anyone of you that's not okay with that?"

His family stopped for a moment lost in thought, obviously understanding what he was saying. Leviathan simply boldly roared, scaring the nearby trainers and wrapping him in her tail.

"I figured… I don't use you enough in battle anyways. I'll have you sit out if it's an electric only trainer or something."

She turned her head away with a pout which only made Blair smile. It seemed to be agreed upon… they were all okay with it even if it was lonely. Finally the family left and walked down. Blair walked step after step in a calm rhythm towards the gym.

"I'd like a fire type." He said with one step. "I'd like to be a better trainer." He said with another. "I'd like to have more than just knowledge." He said with yet another. Soon it was an extremely slow pace as he looked at the gym door in front of him. "There are so many things I'd like… I wonder if I've become any good as a trainer by now? I wonder if I've become any better as a person? Celebi… I will meet you again. I'll thank you then." With that he stepped into an all girls gym. They took him as one of their own without any questions. Blair didn't particularly mind as it was more convenient this way.

"Jet…"

"Geotto!" Jet cooed as he did the finishing blow against yet another floral pokemon. His body beginning to glow slightly.

"Evolution is close at hand huh?"

As usual he challenged all of the gym trainers first. Erika was drinking some tea as she sat down with her eyes closed.

"I see you've come young one."

She spoke with a soft voice.

"Yeah. I know I could have faced you first but I needed a warmup."

"My students were a warmup?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes." Blair replied flatly. "I know you're a lot stronger than them… however I only have three badges so… I don't have to face you all out."

"Rules are indeed rules for gym leaders. You smell… like a male. Impressive how your appearance alone fooled all of my students."

"Aren't you going to open your eyes?" He asked confused at her insistence on her tea.

"Perhaps but… I can smell the battle. To fight you I shall use one pokemon… you can use all of your team members." Blair felt insulted at the provocation.

"You'll regret that." He said as he began to get ready to send out his first member.

A woman stood up from next to Erika and smiled.

"This will be a one on four battle, the challenger is free to substitute pokemon at any time. The challenger may have the first move… let the battle begin."

Blair bit his tongue as he threw out Jet's ball.

"Jet speed in for the show! Let's show her not to underestimate us!"

Erika slowly stood up and calmly opened her eyes. "You look better than you smell. Perhaps some natural cologne? Ah I digress… Venusaur. My partner… come on out."

"SAUR!" A Venusaur was released and shouted as the ground around it began to shake. Blair frowned.

"A Venusaur? Grass type of course… what's that thing on her flower? It's a weird gem." He muttered absent-mindedly. Then he shook himself awake. "Jet, Aerial Ace!"

Erika took a sip of her tea and said something so soft that Blair couldn't hear. Suddenly as Jet came closer she lowered her body and then from the tree on her back a giant purple ball was launched towards Jet who was slammed away with incredible force.

"What?" Blair asked in shock. "Jet get up!" However Jet was already down and out. Blair bit his lip feeling utterly defeated. "One move… this is insane. No wonder she gave me my entire team…"

"Jet is unable to battle. The challenger has three pokemon left to send."

Blair returned Jet to his ball silently. He wanted to give him words of encouragement but knew that would only wound Jet's already shattered pride.

"Ryuko! Let's get some revenge for your last battle!"

"Kyuuu!"

She was sent out and immediately uncurled her body to look at her opponent a fierce glint in her eyes.

"It is now Ryuko against Venusaur. Let the battle resume." The referee said. Blair rubbed his sweaty palms as his heart pounded.

"Ryuko, let's start off with Thunder Wave!"

Erika simply smiled as the ground began to shake and soon Ryuko fell in a chasm.

"Ryuko!" The ground closed on her but as a last ditch effort the waves of electricity did manage to hit Venusaur. "RYUKO!? RYUKO!"

"Calm down. I won't kill this little one." Erika said softly. Soon the ground opened up to reveal a shivering Ryuko who was unable to move. Blair's eyes started hurting. However no future visions came. He felt grateful… on his own power. With each step… he would win.

"Ryuko is unable to battle. The challenger has two more pokemon."

"Ryuko come back… you did it. You gave us the window to win." She kyuud softly as she returned. He looked at the two remaining pokeballs with something caught in his throat. The idea of losing felt so… scary. He felt like the moment he lost he wouldn't be able to stand up again. He felt his insides shatter as he felt so fragile…

"Do you wish to give up in this match?" Erika asked softly. Blair frowned.

"No… I'll keep going! Skull let's go! You can give a strong first move! Earthquake!"

Erika once again whispered something and while the surprise attack did in fact hurt Venusaur a flurry of pink petals slammed into Skull and he was slammed back and knocked out. Blair's eyes shot open as he silently returned Skull and then violently shouted.

"Leviathan! It's all on the line! Bite!"

Erika smiled softly before whispering something Blair could barely hear.

"I guess I'll show you my real power." Suddenly she lifted her arm and a jewel underneath her Kimono started glowing. A similar one on her Venusaur's tree started glowing as well as they changed.

"Evolution? No wait… mega evolution? I never… saw it in person." Then as Leviathan was closing in Blair could see it all in slow motion, first the complete transformation and as Leviathan was almost there giant plants thrust out from the ground and smashed into her then wrapped around her. Leviathan struggled but was soon crushed by thrashing vines. Blair fell to his knees and whited out. He woke up inside the local center… a sense of loss was over him. "We were in top shape." He said to no one. He took a deep breath before once again returning to the rooftop of the department store to scream. This time his family joined him until they were interrupted by a voice.

"So what are you screaming about?"

Blair turned around to see a cocky but familiar female holding the rainbow badge in front of him tauntingly.

"Her Venusaur was strong but no match for my Rapidash. I'll see you in the contest two days from now… I held up my deal and am taking the league challenge as well. Even if I took a year off in Kalos but from what I hear you took a year off in a graveyard." She left Blair behind with the sassy walk. Her confidence oozed out and her message was clear.

"Alicia…" He said absent-mindedly as she left.

Meanwhile Alicia was blushing as she frantically pressed down on the elevator.

"What is wrong with him? Spending a year in the graveyard and losing to Erika. Blair… what happened to you? You were a better trainer in Cerulean. Whatever… it's not like I care."

Blair took a deep breath and he looked up. Then he screamed with all of his lungs.

"I'M NOT GIVING IN! I CAN'T LET IT END HERE! WAKE UP BLAIR! WAKE UP! REORGANIZE!" His eyes started flickering between a bright, glowing green and a dull green. His head throbbed intensely and finally he blacked out. He woke up hours later to lemonade being splashed on his face. Standing there was a little girl about eight years old who laughed and held her hand out. Blair grabbed the hand but just as he reached to grasp it, it disappeared. The girl faded and his heart was beating. The sun was shining. "Did I… sleep in the mall for over twenty four hours?"

"I'm thirsty." He immediately turned to the voice but there was nothing, he once again felt the lemonade on his face. With a frown he walked down the stairs lost in thought. Step after step, after step. Finally he made it down to the bottom an almost serene feeling washed over him as his heart calmed. As if transfixed by something he walked over to the gym. Through the doors, through the grass maze, he was there. He reached out his hand and grabbed a bush nearby. He felt the rough texture of the leaves and branches.

"You're back so soon young challenger?"

"..." Blair simply turned towards her with glowing green eyes.

"I see… words aren't really necessary for you right now are they." Her white eyes looked in Blair's direction with a sense of serenity. "How necessary are they for your partners… it's a bit early in the morning so there's no referee here. I will use three pokemon, do your best to win, challenger. First off come out Victreebel. I require your assistance."

"..." Blair tried to open his mouth to speak but couldn't. It was as if talking was completely shut off from his mouth. However something unexpected happened. Jet came out of his ball on his own.

"..." Jet silently flew through the air from his ball and landed on the ground with an ever so gentle thud.

"I see." Erika closed her eyes as she smiled softly. "Go on Victreebel, use Sludge Bomb."

"VICTREE-" The plant pokemon's cry was cut short by Jet. Glowing and panting Jet slammed into the Victreebel with every single bit of power he could muster. Flying silently still he landed on the ground. Blair's focus returned and looked at Jet, they both nodded.

"I see. Brave Bird was it? Quite a risk taking move… I suppose next up shall be my Vileplume. I don't foresee such an easy fight again. Return Victreebel you did as you could," With a quick motion Erika replaced her pokemon. Soon there was a Vileplume standing in front of Jet however all it took was a single word.

"Go." Blair spoke it as soft as a whisper but it roared in Jet's ears. He felt his body glowing once more.

"Sludge Bomb!"

This time the ball of poison was faster. Jet started accelerating, he hit top speed and was about to slam into the ball of sludge. His heart calmed and his body glowed. One last time. One last chance. One more push! Jet was halted briefly by the ball of sludge but then pushed through with even more speed and force afterwards. A fierce glow in his eyes.

"PI-" Then it hit the Vileplume full force. "DGEOT!" It was a bright glow and then both pokemon were knocked out. Erika blinked and her eyes opened uselessly.

"Far more fight than I expected. It looks like both are down." She smiled softly and then laughed a raspy voice. Her graying hair swaying gently.

"At the age of 37 you are already blind with gray hair… regardless of if you can see or not you are my next opponent. My next challenge and stepping stone."

"I see. Not with my eyes but I see all the same young one. Perhaps I am thirty seven but… perhaps I am not. Either way… let us finish this with a glorious battle. Venusaur, it is your turn once again. Let's start immediately and show him the issues in his heart."

Both trainers returned their pokemon and sent out another one. Blair felt the ground shake as he stared down the Venusaur.

"KYUU!"

"Yeah, Ryuko let's go."

"I'll show you a mega evolution yet again. Can you handle the power?" 

"..."

"Words are indeed useless. Venusaur! Let's go once more and show him the power of Mega Evolution!"

"Ryuko." He felt as if he was seeing through her eyes. She charged fearless and an energy welled up inside and then fired off electric waves which assaulted the freshly mega evolved Venusaur. Words were gone it was just a flurry of petals in front of them. Dodging was impossible, running away was impossible… with a surge of power it happened.

"KYUU!"

Ryuko screamed out with all of her might and just as Blair envisioned it slammed her tail to the ground cracking it, instantly she managed to hide in the mini crevice she formed. A moment later she jumped out as it began to close and the ground was shaking. She sprung towards the Venusaur like a coil. The ground was shaking but what it finally took was a giant vine with thorns crashing into Ryuko. Instantly she was sent flying back. Blair flung back as well and returned Ryuko to her ball. Silently he got up and looked at the ball of his most trusted companion.

"Leviathan. It's up to you."

" are the trainer Celebi has chosen."

"..." Shock washed over Blair for a moment however Erika smiled serenely and Leviathan charged forward. It was a full on crunch as Venusaur was exhausted from Frenzy Plant. Then with a surge of power holding the giant creature in her teeth she twisted her body and slammed it down to the ground. Venusaur tried to resist for a moment but was paralyzed. The battle was over and Blair was left in a cold sweat.

"I'm sorry I was so harsh on you… I have a special relationship with Celebi… so when you were chosen… I got jealous challenger. It was childish of me… forget this old woman for now. You will surely grow from here on. Take the rainbow badge and move forward."

Blair walked forward slowly and then solemnly. He took the badge but then realized there was a canned lemonade in his hand. He took the badge from her hand and then put the canned lemonade in it. Erika started crying and broke down as Blair silently left with a sense of unease.

"CELEBI! YOU MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE! BLAIR! KEEP GOING ON! DON'T LET THEM WIN!"

Hours later Blair was at the mall staring at his new badge.

"So, you picked yourself up huh?"

"No… I got lucky. I'm not strong enough."


End file.
